Telecommunications system, cable televisions systems, and data communication networks use communication networks to rapidly convey large amounts of information between remote points. A communication network may include network elements that route packets through the network. Some network elements may include a distributed architecture, wherein packet processing may be distributed among several subsystems of the network element (e.g., line cards).
Providers of communications networks and their customers often agree to certain quality of service metrics for transmission of data throughout a communication network. For example, providers and customers may agree to a committed information rate (CIR), which may be an average bandwidth for a virtual circuit guaranteed by a provider under normal conditions. In some instances, providers and their customers may agree to various levels or classes of service, in which some classes may have a higher CIR and higher priority than others.
Due to an occurrence of a link failure in a communication network, resulting bandwidth may be reduced to a level insufficient to support CIR for all classes. In some instances, higher-class traffic may consume all or most of the remaining bandwidth, essentially starving all lower-class traffic.